The Impact of Open Source- Harvard University's Open Learning Initiative

                The Harvard Extension School, part of Harvard University’s Open Learning Initiative, seeks to provide users access to Harvard courses, in a variety of subjects, free of charge.  For many, attending an Ivy League university is unattainable for a variety of reasons, particularly having to do with rigorous admissions standards and cost, and Harvard certainly stands out as one of the most prestigious in the world.  Therefore, free access to Harvard University courses to anyone in the world with an internet connection is an exciting prospect and seems to encapsulate the great potential of distance learning to flatten the earth and level the educational playing field.  Yet, it is clear that although this Open Source learning provides students with access to course lectures, the university has not invested in careful design for a distance learning environment, nor do these courses appear to be carefully planned for  in order to maximize active learning in a distance learning environment.                                                                   

I viewed the “ShakespeareAfter All: The Later Plays” course, taught by Marjorie Garber, specifically the lecture on Antony and Cleopatra.  Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek (2012), emphasize the importance of being mindful that traditional classroom courses need to be retooled and well-planned out in order to engage learners in an online setting.  Specifically, they warn designers to “avoid ‘dumping’ face-to-face courses onto the Web” (2012, p.134).  Harvard’s Open Source courses consist of a series of videotaped lectures.  That’s all. Clearly, they have not been designed as web based courses.   Those who access these courses are able to listen to some very interesting lectures and lively discussions, but these courses do little more than allow one to be a fly on the wall of the lecture hall. 

Of course, to design and create effective online courses requires a substantial financial investment on the part of universities.  There is little incentive, therefore, for institutions to build online courses to be included in their Open Course offerings which “will require expensive up-front development [because] to offer quality courses with interactive features means development investments; to simply offer videos of existing lectures completely underuses the medium and its interactive and assessment potential (Boncillian and Singer, 2013, p.29).  Yet, even given the fact that these courses are often little more than videotaped lectures that have not been pre-planned or designed following recommendations for online instruction, they are still useful and promising.  Bonvillian and Singer (2013), give the examples of self-assembling learning communities of Open Course users that formed around courses and allowed for discussion and collaboration by users.   The fact is that, although they are lacking in terms of sound internet-based distance learning design principles, these courses do meet the needs of learners who are motivated by a desire to acquire knowledge, rather than to earn college credit. 

References:

Bonvillian, W. B., & Singer, S. R. (2013). The online challenge to higher hducation. Issues In Science &

                Technology, 29(4), 23-30.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance:

                Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.